Bobcatkitty wrote I have been hearing lately that the Medicare Advantage plans are going to changed due to Obamacare. I would check carefully before jumping into one of those right now.

Currently all insurance companies selling Advantage Plans get a capitation equal to 39.4% of the Medicare Premium. The changes you mention are pretty simple - that 39.4% is going to disappear or at least not increase. The reason Advantage plans have been able to offer people things beyond traditional medicare for zero or at most small premiums is the capitation.

Capitation was created during the Bush administration - the thinking was the Private Sector could do it cheaper. Now that 10s of millions have moved to the Advantage plans, maybe it is time to take away the subsidy and watch how fast the Advantage plans fail.

I find it easy to understand people having an interest is any service whose cost is roughly 40% lower than the traditional version of such services.

Announcements

When Life Gives You Lemons
We all have had hardships and made poor decisions. The important thing is how we respond and grow. Read the story of a Fool who started from nothing, and looks to gain everything.

Work for Fools?
Winner of the Washingtonian great places to work, and Glassdoor #1 Company to Work For 2015! Have access to all of TMF's online and email products for FREE, and be paid for your contributions to TMF! Click the link and start your Fool career.